In the wake of its announcement of the upcoming Mountain Lion OS, Apple released a beta version of Messages.

The easiest way to think of Messages is that it's iMessage for your computer. It can send short instant messages over AIM and Google Talk as well, so it could quickly prove itself useful depending on how intense your communication needs are.

After downloading and installing the Messages beta, it'll prompt you for your Apple ID and password. Type it in and press continue.

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If you want to receive iMessages from people texting you from their own iDevices, select the appropriate email address and press continue.

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Setup is complete! Click "done" to start messaging your friends.

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Type in a phone number and write a message. Hit the enter key to send it.

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The app will tell you when your friend is typing a response back to you.

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And the response comes back.

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Here's what an iPhone user sees when you're communicating via Messages. No discernible difference from an iMessage.

Messages supports other chat protocols like AIM and Google Talk. Select "Preferences" from the Messages menu to bring up this window and click on the plus sign.

Select the chat service you want to use, type in your username and password and click on "Done."

Now you're chatting over AIM!

Messages integrates with FaceTime too.

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We like Messages and we think it's only going to get better, especially if Apple decides to support other instant message protocols on the mobile side. Soon there won't be an excuse for not getting in touch with someone.